DARLINGTON, S.C. - William Byron may have just missed his second win of the year on Sunday, but perhaps more importantly, he further strengthened his grip on the NASCAR Cup Series points standings.
Byron piled up a race-high 56 points in finishing second at Darlington Raceway, including sweeping each of the first two stages and leading the first 243 laps, and is now 49 points clear of the field with eight races in the books.
Chase Elliott, thanks to an eighth-place run, remained cemented in the top five in fourth. Kyle Larson will head into next week's race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he won in dominating fashion in the fall, in sixth spot while Alex Bowman rounds out the top 10 in 10th. All four would make the playoffs if the season ended today.
Here's a look at the standings after Sunday's race at Darlington:
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NASCAR points after Darlington
| Driver | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| 1. William Byron | 315 | 1 |
| 2. Denny Hamlin | 266 (-49) | 2 |
| 3. Christopher Bell | 263 (-52) | 3 |
| 4. Chase Elliott | 256 (-59) | 0 |
| 5. Tyler Reddick | 254 (-61) | 0 |
| 6. Kyle Larson | 244 (-71) | 1 |
| 7. Ryan Blaney | 236 (-79) | 0 |
| 8. Bubba Wallace | 233 (-82) | 0 |
| 9. Joey Logano | 232 (-83) | 0 |
| 10. Alex Bowman | 227 (-88) | 0 |
| 11. Chris Buescher | 215 (-100) | 0 |
| 12. Ross Chastain | 199 (-116) | 0 |
| 13. Ryan Preece | 184 (-131) | 0 |
| 14. Chase Briscoe | 178 (-137) | 0 |
| 15. Kyle Busch | 177 (-138) | 0 |
| 16. AJ Allmendinger | 168 (-147) | 0 |
| 17. Michael McDowell | 167 (-148) | 0 |
| 18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 158 (-157) | 0 |
| 19. John Hunter Nemechek | 155 (-160) | 0 |
| 20. Josh Berry | 154 (-161) | 1 |